Riding public transportation got a whole lot easier on Tuesday, the first day customers can use their debit cards to tap onto Presto machines to ride just about every transit system in the province.

You can now use your debit card or payment apps on phones and smartwatches to directly tap onto GO Transit, UP Express, Brampton Transit, Burlington Transit, Durham Region Transit, Hamilton Street Railway, MiWay in Mississauga, Oakville Transit and York Region Transit.

The new contactless payment option is also now available on paratransit services in Burlington, Durham Region, Hamilton, York Region, Oakville, and Ottawa.

"This latest milestone for the PRESTO system gives transit riders yet another convenient payment option when travelling for work, school, leisure, and more," said Stan Cho, Associate Minister of Transportation.

The glaring omission from that list, of course, is the TTC. In its announcement marking the start of debit tap Presto payment, the Province acknowledged this shortcoming, stating that it continues working with the TTC "to introduce both credit and debit payment options for Toronto transit riders this summer."

"We are thrilled to bring our customers yet another way to pay their transit fare with the addition of debit payment now accepted on Presto devices across participating transit agencies," said Barclay Hancock, Chief Payments Officer at Metrolinx.

"This is just another way we continue to innovate the PRESTO payment experience and make it easier to travel seamlessly across the region."

Debit payment comes on the heels of the earlier rollout of credit card tap payments on Presto, launched last August.

Riders may now have three or more cards capable of tapping onto a Presto machine tucked into their wallets, which furthers opportunities for double payments.

Double fare payments were a problem early on in the rollout of Presto credit card payment last summer, and Metrolinx even penned a blog post in September 2022, warning customers to be careful when tapping onto Presto machines using wallets also holding credit cards.